The Summit swim and dive team has reached the point in its season where it gets the opportunity to display its hard work and dedication at the championship meets. 

After competing at meets across the Front Range and Western Slope throughout the season, the Tigers traveled to El Pomar Natatorium at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction for the Southwest Conference Championship meet.

Taking place from Friday, Jan. 31, through Saturday, Feb. 1, teams from across the Western Slope converged in hopes of placing highly within the conference prior to the state swim and dive meet.

The first day of competition on Friday consisted of the preliminary round of races where Summit managed to seal up several final spots.

In finals on Saturday, Summit had its first top-10 finish of the meet in the 200-yard freestyle. Leaning fully into one of her best events, senior Aila Harmala nearly matched her times in prelims to take seventh overall in a time of 2 minutes, 14.86 seconds.

Junior Logan Ellison and freshman Wren Tofig both competed in the B final of the 200-yard freestyle. Shedding nearly two seconds from her time in the prelims, Ellison placed 11th (2:22.30), and Tofig took 15th (2:32.45).

The Tigers continued to put athletes within the top 10 in the 50-yard freestyle. Leading the way in the event was senior Olivia Lyman. After breaking a bone in the late fall, Lyman managed to take second overall in the 50-yard freestyle race at the conference-championship meet. 

Lyman clocked a time of 25.67 seconds and was soon followed by junior Izzy Rolfe in sixth place (26.35). Junior Andy Milata competed in the B final of the 50-yard freestyle, taking 15th overall in 28.73 seconds.

The meet then saw a break from the swimming action for the 1-meter dive competition. Summit had three athletes place within the top 10 in the event. Sophomore Emmi Brunner notched the highest finish among her Tiger teammates. Brunner took fourth overall with a score of 277.40 and was soon followed by sophomore Norah Kuffner in fifth (248.80) and senior Adison Micciulli in sixth (246.75).

Lyman returned to the pool for the 100-yard freestyle race where she added a fourth-place finish to her name. Lyman finished the race in 57.19 seconds while Rolfe completed the race in 57.71 seconds to take fifth overall. Junior Lydia Peterson then rounded out the results in the B final of the 100-yard freestyle, taking 16th overall (1:03.81).

In the longest event in high school swimming, Harmala nabbed her second top-10 finish of the meet. Leaning on her aerobic fitness, Harmala took seventh overall in a time of 6:07.08. Ellison took 16th in the 500-yard freestyle (6:59.71).

It was not until the ninth event of the meet that Summit was able to place top 10 in a relay. After failing to make the top 10 in the 200-yard medley relay, Summit’s 200-yard freestyle relay team took fourth overall in a time of 1:48.67. 

In the final two individual events of the meet, Summit found a way to put three athletes in the final. Senior Izzy Rowe spearheaded the results in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing in fourth place overall in 1:07.25. Peterson took 14th in the 100-yard backstroke B final in a time of 1:15.47.

Sophomore Adah Wiese was the only Summit athlete to race in the 100-yard breaststroke final. The sophomore placed 12th overall in the B final in a time of 1:26.44.

Summit concluded the meet by taking fourth (4:00.78) and ninth (4:27.42) in the 400-yard freestyle relay.

Scoring a total of 259 points, Summit matched its fourth-place finish from the conference meet last year. Grand Junction High School won the meet with 398 points, Glenwood Springs took second (356) and Gunnison took third (334).

“It means so much to me to place so highly as a team in my last year,” Lyman said. “It demonstrates the work the whole team has put in throughout the whole year. We had many athletes compete, and it takes a lot of courage and a lot of hard work to get to compete at that conference meet. I think it is a really good reflection of how impressive everyone was.”

Despite moving up to the 4A classification this winter, the Summit swim and dive team will send seven athletes to the state swim and dive meet this upcoming weekend. The number of state qualifiers is the exact same as last year when Summit still competed in the 3A classification.

Summit’s state-qualified  athletes include Lyman, Rowe, Harmala, Rolfe, Milata, Peterson and Wiese.

“We are looking to break a school record in the 200-free relay,” Lyman said. “This is the pool that I grew up swimming states in, so it is really exciting I get to swim my last one in it. I am really just looking forward to having a great last swim weekend with all my teammates.”

The 4A state swim and dive meet will take place at Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Thornton. The meet is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 7, and Saturday, Feb. 8.